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"Soothing" ingredients made you redder? When centella or heartleaf does not agree
Centella (cica), heartleaf, mugwort, propolis: in K-beauty these are practically synonyms for "calming". Yet forums have plenty of posts saying "my soothing cream made me redder." Points that come up often Plant extracts
0 0Poll: which Korean ingredient is always in your routine?
If you look at the labels of Korean products reaching Latin America and Spain, some ingredients show up again and again. In Spanish-speaking communities, these are the most mentioned: Centella asiatica (cica): closely li
Poll
Which Korean ingredient is always in your routine?
Pick one to see the results
0 0Working with overseas creators: where ingredient explanations get lost in translation
When brands collaborate with creators abroad, a surprising number of problems come from translating ingredient and benefit explanations. Korean materials get passed along as-is and end up meaning something quite differen
0 0What is CICA? A roundup of Centella asiatica-derived ingredients
“CICA,” familiar from Korean cosmetics, is used as a general term for ingredients derived from Centella asiatica.
Poll
Do you use CICA products?
Pick one to see the results
0 1Panthenol and madecassoside: the quiet workhorses in K-beauty "repair" creams
Look at the back of many Korean "repair," "cica" or "barrier" creams and two names show up again and again: panthenol and madecassoside. They're less flashy than PDRN, but they're everywhere for a reason. Panthenol (pro-
0 0Seasonal redness: Do the “Centella Asiatica (CICA)” products commonly used by Koreans actually work?
CICA refers to ingredients related to Centella Asiatica, which are very common in Korean skincare products and often appear in soothing and repairing products. On ingredient lists, you’ll see things like Centella Asiatic
Poll
Have you tried CICA products?
Pick one to see the results
0 3Sugar and skin ageing: what a new lab study actually found
Headlines saying sugar ages your skin are everywhere. A peer-reviewed study highlighted by The Estée Lauder Companies in April 2026 adds a more specific piece. What the research looked at: Glycation, where sugar binds to
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